But in the end, my heart won against my mind. “He said he recognized me…and that he’d soon know where from.”
The only reaction I got from Isaiah was a slight twitch in his eye.
I wrapped my hands around my torso as a sort of strength-inducing embrace. “If he knows me, then he likely knows my uncle, and—”
“He’s just fucking with you to get to me,” he interrupted me.
“I don’t know.” My mind was spiraling as I thought over Bain’s words. It was the way he looked at me that had me thinking otherwise. What if he did know me? Could he have seen me at one of the gatherings Richard made me attend in the past? I didn’t look many people in the eye at those frivolous, high-society parties because I knew I’d be punished later. “I don’t trust him.”
Isaiah's lips moved, showing off a grin. “I thought you didn’t trust anyone.” His slight smile grew wider, and I stared at his perfect white teeth. “We haven’t even established a friendship yet, and you already trust me?”
I pulled back. “No one said that I trusted you.” I paused, crossing my arms over my chest. “And no one said we would become friends.”
He shrugged. “But you wanna trust me.”
My brow furrowed as my arms flexed across my body. “I do not.” And it didn’t matter if I was lying. I wouldn’t trust him. I wouldn’t.
His smile caught my eye, and I swore the breath left my body like a soul ascending to heaven. “And you want to be friends with me.” He reached over with his long arm and flicked my braid off my shoulder. “And that’s a start, Good Girl.”
A flicker of warmth basically caught me on fire at the mere sight of his dimpled cheek. I couldn’t be friends with him.
Isaiah erased the open space between us until we were a foot away from one another. I tipped my head back to look at him and saw that his light expression had morphed into something darker. “Are you rethinking things now? With Bain making threats?”
I clenched my teeth together to suppress anything that wanted to run out of my mouth. It was hard to keep my thoughts straight with Isaiah this close. Something danced over my skin as if he was touching me. But he wasn’t. It was scary how exhilarated I got with him near. Almost scarier than Bain knowing who I was.
“No. But if he found out what I was really up to, what you were getting for me, and he told my uncle…” I trailed off, my brain almost screaming at me to shut the hell up. “Just never mind. I don’t want him running back to my uncle and giving reports on me. That’s all.”
Isaiah pushed his hands into his pockets, and as I peered up at him, all I could see was the side-eye he was giving me. “Your uncle must be a force to reckon with if Bain can inflict that much fear into you at the mere thought of him making the connection.” He glanced away, watching raindrops trail down the window. His sharp jaw was the only thing I could focus on. “If you want out, you need to tell me now so I can come up with a better plan to get my ass off probation.”
“Out of what? Tutoring?”
His icy eyes found mine again. “Yes.”
Panic pushed me toward him, my shaky hands grasping into his forearm. “No!” The word was a jolt of desperation flinging through the empty room. “I need what you promised me.” I needed it so badly I could almost taste the freedom on my lips.
His arm flexed under my touch, and I immediately dropped my gaze to his mouth.
“Good. Because the SMC already agreed to allow you to tutor me. We start tonight.” Our eyes locked, and something passed between us. A bond? An understanding? I wasn’t sure what it was, but something seemed to click into place for me.
“I’ll meet you in the library at seven, then.” The panicked tone of my voice had vanished with relief, and Isaiah’s grim frown had morphed to his normal, sly grin.
“Make it eight. I have a lacrosse game tonight.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you at eight.” I began to turn away before his hand reached out and snagged me back.
“You should come to the game.”
My brow furrowed as his hand stayed on my arm. “Your lacrosse game? Why?”
His eyes darted away, and his sly grin was nowhere to be found. His dark brows were slanted over his eyes as he stared at the window again. There was an unfathomable pull in my chest that made me want to reach out and place my hand on his, letting him know that whatever he was conflicted about was fine—which confused me altogether. Why did I even care if he was conflicted about something? Where was this coming from? Boiling anger began to surface at my irrational notion to make someone like him feel better. Isaiah and I weren’t friends, and last I checked, he had thrown me into a closet on the first day of school as payback. I didn’t know a single thing about Isaiah, and my need to put his feelings over mine was going to need to make a swift turn right out of this room.
But then… My mouth opened, and the words that came out surprised us both. “I’ll come to your game.” What?!
He snapped his attention back to me, and he sighed out a breath. “Good.” And just like that, he walked over to the door and held it open for me. I began walking out with my lips sealed because I was so appalled by my behavior.
Right before I stepped back into the hall, Isaiah leaned down and brushed his lips over my ear. Goosebumps broke out along every inch of my skin, and unlike before, when Bain and I were in close contact and I’d had fear slithering through my veins, Isaiah caused nothing but an exciting thrill of butterflies to flutter across my belly. That was, until he said, “Do me a favor. Stay away from Bain.”
His hand left my arm, and his breath no longer tickled my ear. I swallowed roughly and nodded curtly before he left to walk down the hallway with his unknowingly pretentious stride.